Paul C. Buff has begun informing customers on the pre-order list for its upcoming Vagabond Mini Lithium portable power pack that shipping has been pushed back to late January.

A customer service email says that a delay in receiving a shipment of batteries is to blame: "We have all of the inverters and casing components in house and were awaiting arrival of the lithium batteries when we learned that they were being held for international inspection. They are not expected to clear customs until mid-January." The message goes on to say that shipments to customers will follow that, starting late in the same month.

The 3.5lb/1.6kg Vagabond Mini Lithium features a pure sine wave inverter, user-removable Lithium battery, twin AC sockets and three-stage battery gauge in a compact rectangular case that enables it to be fixed to a lightstand with the included clamp. Paul C. Buff has rated the Vagabond Mini Lithium at over 500 full power pops from a single charge in testing with an AlienBees B1600 monolight set to 640ws. A 5V/500mAh USB A port on the front of the unit allows for iPhones and similar devices to be powered or charged too.

The Vagabond Mini Lithium, including the inverter, battery module and three-hour charger, is US$239.95 direct from Paul C. Buff in the U.S. Additional batteries are US$89.95. It's to be available in both 120VAC output and 230VAC output versions.